Farmer/Writers - A new breed of slash

Yesterday's New York Times had a great story (by Dana Bowen) on a new breed of slash: farmer/writers. And it had a killer headline "Old Macdonald Now Has A Book Contract." The story begins with John Peterson, a farmer in Illinois, who spends the winter in Mexico writing:

Over the years he has written plays, short stories, a cookbook and a newsletter he sends to his customers. While his sideline may seem unusual, it places Mr. Peterson smack in the middle of an emerging literary movement: farmers who write.

Is self-promotion a women's problem?

The avalanche of emails responding to my Shifting Careers column on self-promotion continues. When I wrote that column, I didn't think self-promotion was a women's issue and I know that many men -- and many folks who were just raised to think being humble is good manners -- also have a problem with it. But a lot of the experts and commentators believe that women have a harder time with it than men.

Lisa Cullen, Time.com's workplace blogger (the unidentified friend who called me a "master of self-promotion"), blogged about my column. For her, it all came down to the estrogen factor. Read what she has to say here.